About this course

Entry requirements

Normally, a UK or internationally recognised honours degree, or its equivalent, in any subject; an alternative would be an ordinary degree/teaching certificate and three years' teaching experience. For anyone who has studied at undergraduate level outside the UK we also require an English Language qualification equivalent to a British Council IELTS score of 7.0.

Months of entry

Course content

This programme will enable you to develop advanced analytical skills and in-depth linguistic knowledge, and to gain experience as an independent researcher.

It begins with the Language Description module, designed to give you confidence in working with the essential building blocks of linguistic analysis: grammar, morphology, and phonology. You’ll then study Data, Theory & Method, covering topics such as hypothesis testing, the role of linguistic theory, data collection, academic referencing and research ethics.

There are optional modules too, covering topics such as sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, spoken discourse analysis, and the history of the English language. In choosing three of these modules you can tailor your studies to your individual interests and career aspirations. The final dissertation is a piece of original research on a topic of your choice.

One of our key strengths is that the programme is taught by leading authorities on the subjects covered. Our teaching staff are active researchers who, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, publish world-leading journal articles, chapters and books. This research feeds directly into the MA learning materials.

You’ll be fully supported by a tutor assigned to you when you begin each module who can be contacted by email or telephone. There’s no requirement for you ever to attend the University, but there are ample opportunities for you to do so if you wish.

This is a staged qualification, meaning you can choose to exit with either a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma or you can continue to the MA stage.

Information for international students

Proven command of the English Language. We have a high proportion of international students because the course can be studied via Distance Learning. For more details please contact our International office or the course director. www.bcu.ac.uk/international